Fluid dispensing device



April 23, 1963 c. P. FREER f FLUID nIsPENsINGDEvIcE:

Filed Sept. 17, 1959 United States Patent 3,086,373 FLUID DISPENSING DEVICE Clyde P. Freer, Warren, Ohio, assigner to The Halsey W. Taylor Company, Warren, Ohio Filed Sept. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 840,675 Claims. (Cl. 62-389) My invention relates to iluid dispensing devices, and more particularly to fountains for dispensing chilled drinking water, and the principal object of my invention is to provide new and improved devices of this character.

. In an effort to secure optimum efllciency from water dispensing fountains, many attempts have been made to utilize the cooling effect of water which is ordinarily Wasted and which flows to the drain. Such waste is variously caused; for example, water is wasted when a consumer-to-be turns on the water control valve and permits a quantity of refrigerated water to flow from the dispensing outlet before taking a drink. Also, waste is created because frequently not all water issuing from the dispensing outlet is consumed during drinking operations. Thus, the relatively cold Water passed to drain and normally its usefulness is lost.

Prior art devices, such as disclosed in my previous Patents Nos. 2,577,574 and 2,653,013, bring the incoming Water flowing from a source in heat transfer relation withkthe drain pipe and this has helped eflciency of the apparatus, but not as great as my present invention.

In the drawing accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application, there is shown, for purpose of illustration, an embodiment which my invention may assume, and in this drawing:

FIGURE l is a side elevational view of a water drinking fountain, portions being broken away to disclose detail,

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view through the drain pipe construction,

FIGURE 3 is a separated fragmentary View of baille details,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a drain pipe portion, and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary elevational view showing Iadditional pre-cooler construction.

Referring to the drawing, the embodiment of my invention is herein disclosed for use with a refrigerator-type water cooler having a casing 11, the lower end of which encloses a motor-compressor-condenser unit 12 which may be of any suitable commercially available type and therefore is not shown in detail. A water storage tank 14 is supported in the upper portion of the casing 11 in any suitable manner.

Referring particularly to FIGURE l, the drinking fountain herein disclosed has a dispensing outlet or bubbler 15 extending upwardly from its top Acover 16, an intermediate portion of the latter being dished, as shown at 17, to form a catch basin for water issuing from the bubbler 15 under control of a hand operated valve 18.

The body of valve 18 is connected by a conduit 19 to the lower end of the storage tank 14 so that chilled water contained in the latter may flow to` the bubbler. A conduit 20 connects the upper end of the storage tank with a source of supply, such as a pipe leading from the city water main.

A drain pipe 21 connects the lowermost portion of the catch basin with a drain conduit such as a pipe 22 (see FIGURE 2) which may lead to a sewer connection. The drain pipe 21 provides for gravity llow of unconsumed portions of chilled water from the catch basin to the drain and in the present embodiment comprises a cylindrical vertically arranged metal tube 23 having a radial outwardly extending ilange 24 at its top end. The tube also has internal threads 25 extending inwardly from 3,086,373v Patented Apr. 23, 1963 ice its top end for receiving the externally threaded sleeve 26 of a `clamping member, the sleeve having a radial outwardly extending flange 27 adapted to clamp between it and the flange 24, the adjoining part of the catch basin 17 and the sealing washers 28 and 29.

The lower end of the sleeve 26 is formed with a transversely extending spider formation 30 (see especially FIGURE 3) and a .baille member 31 is supported from the spider. As herein disclosed, the baille member comprises a Circular dished washer which depends from the spider. The shank of a` tubular rivet 32 passes through aligned apertures in the spider and baille member, and the rivet has a head underlying the baille member and has its upper tubular end expanded over the spider member. The baille member is spaced from the inner wall of the drain tube 23 and is arranged to deflect chilled unconsumed waste water entering the upper end of the drain tube toward the inner wall of the drain tube.

The baille member may be easily removed by unscrcwing the sleeve 26 from the ldrain tube 23 and lifting away the sleeve and the baille member carried thereby. This operation also provides ready access to the interior of the drain tube for cleaning purposes. The lower end of the drain tube 23 is here disclosed as fitting into an elbow 33 and is held thereto by a threaded or other suitable connection. The elbow 33 in turn connects to the previously mentioned drain pipe 22.

A refrigerant `conduit 34 is normally disposed in heat transfer relation with the storage tank 14 and, in the .present instance, the conduit 34 is wound, in spiral fashion, around the exterior of the tank. The conduit 34 is connected in circuit with the motor-compressor-condenser unit 12V for receiving compressed refrigerant therefrom. The'refrigerant expands within the conduit toa gaseous form and in such process reduces in temperature and thus picks up heat from the storage tank 14 and water contained therein.

The circuit above mentioned includes not only the spiral conduit or pipe 34 but also includes a conduit portion which is in heat exchange relation with the chilled unconsurned Water flowing to the drain. In the present embodiment, a coiled pipe 35 is disposed within the drain tube 23, the coil being of such diameter as to `fit snugly within the tube. I f desired, as where the coiled pipe 35 is required to be in good heat exchange relation with the drain tube, a tinning operation may be used to provide a good thermal transfer bond therebetween.

The pipe of which the coil 35 is made is of arcuate shape in cross-section, as best seen in FIGURE 4, and this shape may be produced by moving a cylindrical pipe between suitable forming dies. The arcuate cross-section of the pipe 35 forms a trough 36 for the chilled waste water and, as seen in FIGURE 2, this trough is spiral shaped in longitudinal extent to provide a spiral course for the water to flow to the drain.

Referring to FIGURE l, the upper end of the `coiled refrigerant conduit 34 is connected, in accordance with usual practice, with the inlet part of the compressor of the motor-compressor-condenser unit by means of a suction line 37. The liquid line 38 from the receiver of the motor-compressor-condenser unit 12 is connected to the lower end of the coil 35 and the upper end of the latter is connected to a pipe 39 which extends downwardly through the coil. The pipe 38 enters and the pipe 39 exits through openings in the elbow 33, the pipe 39 being connected to the lower end of the refrigerant conduit 34. An expansion valve 40, or a capillary tube, may be inserted in the pipe 39 to Icontrol flow of refrigerant therein.

The chilled, unconsumed water entering the upper end of the drain tube 23 will be deflected radially outwardly, by the Abaffle 31, and directed to the upper portion of the spiral trough formed by the coiled pipe 35 and the interior wall of the drain tube. This water is thus used to lower the temperature of the liquid refrigerant passing through the liquid line 38 and thus greatly increases efciency by reason of the fact that the compressed liquid in line 38 is normally relatively hot and if it is cooled it advantageously affects the cooling effect of its expansion in refrigerant conduit 34. Tests of a working model of the invention have disclosed that the refrigerant reaching conduit 34 had a temperature of 105 F. when the cooling effect of coil 35 was not used, as compared to a temperature of 67 F. when such cooling eiect was used. :'Thus, the lower temperature of the refrigerant liquid increased the efficiency of its cooling capacity.

In some instances it may be further desired to utilize the cooling effect of the chilled unconsurned water ilowing to the drain and therefore a water pipe 41 (see FIG- URE 5) may be coiled about the drain tube 23 in heat transfer relation therewith. The lower end of the pipe '41 may be connected to a source of water, and its upper end may be connected to the line 20 which leads to the upper end of the storage tank. Thus, water is pre-cooled prior to its entrance to the storage tank, and therefore less effort is required to cool or maintain cool the water in the tank.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that l have accomplished at least the principal object of my invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described; hence it will be appreciated that the herein ydisclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. Heat transfer apparatus for refrigerated drinking fountains, comprising a generally vertically disposed drain pipe through which unconsumed, cooled waste water gravitates to a drain, an elbow threaded to the lower end of said drain pipe for directing .the waste water away from the vertical, a circuit through which refrigerant is adapted to flow including a helically coiled conduit extending longitudinally within said drain pipe and in contact with the interior wall surface thereof, means adjacent to the upper end of said drain pipe for directing waste water to said interior wall surface, the lower end of said conduit having an extension which projects through the wall of said elbow in fluid tight relation, and the upper end of said conduit having an extension which extends downwardly within its coil and also projects through said elbow wall, removal of said elbow from said drain pipe providing for simultaneous removal of said conduit from the interior of said drain pipe and through the lower end thereof.

2. Heat transfer apparatus for refrigerated drinking fountains, comprising a drain pipe leading from the catch basin of said fountain to a drain, said pipe having a vertically disposed plain cylindrical interior wall, a helical conduit having the cross-section of a flattened tube with an outer peripheral portion in close contact with said plain cylindrical interior wall and an inner peripheral portion angling upwardly from said outer portion and thereby forming a helical trough with said interior wall through which unconsumcd, cooled waste water may flow downwardly to said drain, and means adjacent to the upper end of said drain pipe for directing waste water to said interior wall.

3. The construction according to claim 2 wherein a uid is adapted to ilow through said conduit for precooling purposes.

4. The construction according to claim 3 wherein said fluid is a refrigerant fluid.

5. The construction according to claim 4 wherein a water conduit is connected to a source of water supply and is wound about the exterior of said drain pipe in heat transfer relationship therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,529,781 Morrison Nov. 14, 1950 2,529,782 Morrison Nov. 14, 1950 2,581,125 Morrison Ian. 1, 1952 2,650,800 Taylor Sept. 1, 1953 2,667,039 Wehrwein Jan. 26, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 482,337 Canada Apr. 8, 1957 

2. HEAT TRANSFER APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATED DRINKING FOUNTAINS, COMPRISING A DRAIN PIPE LEADING FROM THE CATCH BASIN OF SAID FOUNTAIN TO A DRAIN, SAID PIPE HAVING A VERTICALLY DISPOSED PLAIN CYLINDRICAL INTERIOR WALL, A HELICAL CONDUIT HAVING THE CROSS-SECTION OF A FLATTENED TUBE WITH AN OUTER PERIPHERAL PORTION IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH SAID PLAIN CYLINDRICAL INTERIOR WALL AND AN INNER PERIPHERAL PORTION ANGLING UPWARDLY FROM SAID OUTER PORTION AND THEREBY FORMING A HELICAL TROUGH WITH SAID INTERIOR WALL THROUGH WHICH UNCONSUMED, COOLED WASTE WATER MAY FLOW DOWNWARDLY TO SAID DRAIN, AND MEANS ADJACENT TO THE UPPER END OF SAID DRAIN PIPE FOR DIRECTING WASTE WATER TO SAID INTERIOR WALL. 